


this is love

by rxginamills



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 10:27:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14400216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rxginamills/pseuds/rxginamills
Summary: The Evil Queen places Zelena under a sleeping curse and the people of Storybrooke struggle with waking her up. They then notice that the solution to their problem come from the most unlikely source.





	this is love

Regina finds Zelena from the floor next to Robin's crib.

At first she was just going to a regular visit to see her sister and her niece, but things had not gone as planned.

"Zelena?!"

Regina rushes to her ginger-haired sister and quickly realizes what has happened: Zelena is under a sleeping curse. Robin is untouched, for which Regina is grateful.

She lifts her big sister in her arms and takes her to the bedroom, laying her on the bed. Then Regina dials Snow.

"Hey Regina," Snow sounds cheery, driving Regina even further up the wall.

"Snow? Listen, I kind of need your help," she says, feeling reasonably uncomfortable watching her sister sleep.

"What is it?"

"My rather mean half put Zelena under a sleeping curse," Regina sighs. She hears Snow gasp.

"We'll be there," she says and ends the call. Regina places her phone on the table and tries to keep her hands from shaking. Obviously she knows what they have to do next: figure out who could give Zelena a true love's kiss to wake her up.

She has thought of herself; after all, she does love her sister and she's glad that they overcame their anger and made up, but it would break her heart if her kiss didn't work.

In a few minutes Regina is joined by Snow and David, who both look concerned. It slightly surprises Regina, but she's questioning if they're concerned for Zelena or for her.

"Are you okay? What about Zelena and the baby?" Snow asks quickly.

"We're all fine, don't worry. We just need to find someone to wake her up," Regina answers.

"Have you tried it yourself?" David asks from the back of the room.

"Not yet, I'm — I'm scared," Regina says with a shaky voice. She looks at her sleeping sister on the bed. Zelena looks so peaceful. She had been sure that the Evil Queen was on her side, that they were a team. But she was fooled.

"Why are you scared?" Snow asks, putting a hand on Regina's shoulder.

"What if it doesn't work?" she asks quietly.

"Then we will find another way — "

"I know that, I know!" Regina cuts off Snow, "it's not that I'm worried about..."

Snow's mouth forms an O shape and her eyes soften as she looks at her friend, "Oh, I get it now...Regina, it doesn't matter if your kiss doesn't work. It doesn't mean that you don't love her. Zelena knows you love and appreciate her, you're sisters."

"I suppose you're right, as always. I'll give it a go," Regina says carefully. She goes closer to Zelena and sits on the edge of the bed. Then she takes her hand.

"Hi sis," she whispers and then lifts Zelena's hand to her lips, giving it a small kiss. They wait for a few seconds. Nothing happens.

Regina's kiss hasn't worked.

"Well that's one option off the table," she mutters, "Crap, why won't my hands stop shaking..."

"So what do we do? What other options are there? Who do we know that could wake up Zelena?" Snow asks. Regina begins to list options.

"Not the baby, that's for sure," she says, "Glinda is very far-fetched, our mother is not here, Hades is obliterated, but I would never let him get his slimy hands on my sister again," she clenches her fists angrily.

"So what do we do? Do we leave her like this?" David asks, seemingly defeated.

"What?! I'm not leaving my sister under a sleeping curse — "

"Of course we're not doing that, Regina," Snow casts a stern look at David to tell him that what he said wasn't exactly clever, "We'll find another way to wake up Zelena."

"The first thing I'm going to do is talk to Gold. He better give me some answers," Regina growls.

And so she heads for Gold's shop, desperate to get something out of him. She will not stop fighting for her sister.

Mr. Gold doesn't look surprised when Regina, Snow and David rush into his shop. He places down the golden object he holds in his hand and looks at Regina's furious face.

"And what might be your business today?" he asks, knowing fully well what Regina is there for.

"Don't play games with me. Tell me how I can wake up Zelena," she slams her fist on the counter.

"That's an easy question to answer: you can't." something shines in Gold's eyes as he speaks; he's enjoying watching Regina squirm.

"You know that's not true." Snow says from where she's standing behind Regina, holding her arm slightly so she doesn't go berserk on Gold.

"Well, there is a solution to your problem: a true love's kiss. But that you already knew, and there is no one in Storybrooke to kiss Zelena. There is no one anywhere to wake her. We are done. Leave my shop." he says. Regina has had enough of his behavior, of failure, of the uncertainty.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU — "

"Regina! No!" Snow and David hurry to grab Regina's arms as she lungs for Gold's throat with a loud shout.

"What does the Evil Queen want? Out of all people, why would she put Zelena under a sleeping curse? She doesn't benefit from it," Snow looks at Gold while she holds Regina back.

"Oh, but she does. Zelena and Regina have grown close, as absurd as it may seem. As there is no one to wake up Zelena, she's going to be under that curse forever. That will cause Regina pain. It's by far the easiest way for the Evil Queen to hurt her other half, and that's what she wants: to hurt Regina until she is broken beyond repair." Gold explains.

"I can't lose more family," Regina whispers, "I - I can't..."

"You won't, Regina, I promise. Emma and Killian know about this and they're trying to track down people that have any kind of emotional connection to Zelena. We might still have a chance." Snow reassures her, rubbing her back. Then she leads her out of the shop. David throws a sharp glance at Gold before he follows the women. They meet Emma and Killian by the library.

"Find anything?" David asks Emma. She shakes her head.

"Nothing yet. I'm sorry, I'm trying," she says to Regina. Killian takes Emma's hand and kisses it comfortingly.

"It's alright, I know you're trying to help and I appreciate it. But I think this is something I should handle alone. You and Killian were leaving for a holiday anyway," Regina tells Emma and her boyfriend. Emma looks up at Killian.

"I have to admit, a romantic holiday in Spain sounds very appealing right now. Our flight leaves tomorrow. You sure you'll be okay?" she glances at Regina, who nods.

"I'm sure."

Killian and Emma leave the three of them there. They continue to brainstorm to find solutions to Zelena's problem. Days pass and they figure out nothing. Regina is heartbroken. She and her sister had not been in the best terms after the Evil Queen came to town and now she won't even be able to apologize to Zelena.

She's sitting by Zelena's bed one evening, watching her sleep. It sounds creepy, in a way, but Regina has grown used to her hands laying on her stomach, her ginger hair spread on the pillow around her, her eyelashes fluttering so softly that it seems they're almost still. Regina has memorized the pattern of Zelena's chest rising and falling and the path of the veins on her wrists. Zelena is so beautiful. Regina has a hard time believing they used to hate each other.

Robin's cry from the other room distracts Regina from her thoughts and she goes to fetch the baby. She holds Robin in her arms and slowly gets her to quiet down. The baby knows her mother is close. Regina goes back to Zelena.

"Hey Zelena, um..." Regina's voice is shaking with tears that are threatening to fall, "Your baby girl's here. It's Robin. She misses her mommy. But I'm - I'm going to take good care of her if you have to, you know," she swallows, "sleep forever."

Regina lays Robin on the bed next to her mother. Robin looks curious. She slaps Zelena's chest with her tiny hands and grabs her shirt and hair. Then she crawls closer to her mother's face and snuggles her little mouth against her cheek.

This is when something happens. A wave of magic, a wave of something bursts from Zelena and Robin. Regina gasps just as tears have fallen on her cheeks. She knows very well what this means.

Zelena opens her eyes.

Tiny Robin has managed to wake up her mother.

"Oh," Regina puts a hand on her mouth to hold back tears. Zelena doesn't seem to register her; she only sees her daughter.

"What — I — Robin? My baby?" she's confused but picks up Robin in her arms.

"She gave you a true love's kiss," Regina mumbles. Zelena's eyes fly to her immediately.

"Regina," she breathes.

"Hi," Regina laughs in tears and hugs Zelena once the ginger has put down her baby. Zelena holds her little sister close.

"I was so worried about you. We had no idea Robin was the key to everything." Regina explains.

"So...my daughter woke me up from a sleeping curse?" Zelena looks at Robin. Regina nods.

"I tried myself, but...goddammit, Zelena, I was so sure that it meant I don't love you and I was scared and I — "

"Regina," Zelena laughs and put her fingertips under her chin, "I know you love me. You were willing to see past the awful person I used to be and you forgave me for everything I did and you're truly my sister."

Regina wipes her tears and hugs Zelena again. They stay like that for a long time. They're okay.

"So this is love," Zelena chuckles at one point, "I know love, I know what it feels like..."

"How does it feel?" Regina mumbles, her chin against Zelena's shoulder.

"It feels great. It feels like home."


End file.
